The effects of different dietary levels of organic and inorganic selenium on some growth performance and proximate composition of juvenile rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)

Selenium, a trace mineral complement is used as cofactor of antioxidant enzymes that protects fishes against environmental stress agents and enhances performance in fishes. In this study the different levels of organic and inorganic source of selenium were included in juvenile rainbow trout diet to evaluate feed conversion ratio (FCR), specific growth rate (SGR), weight gain percent (WG), condition factor (CF), survival rate (SR) and proximate analysis of the fillet during 60 days of the experiment. The fishes were allotted to 9 treatment groups including: Tc the fishes were fed diet without any selenium, control group; To1, To2, To3 and To4 the fishes were fed different dosages of inorganic [sic] selenium; and Ti1, Ti2, Ti3 and Ti4 those were fed different dose of inorganic Se in their diet. Results showed that To4, showed the highest level of WG from 50±2.8 to 168.54± 25.56 g in comparison to Tc (134.38± 27.26g) (p<0.05). Average initial total length of fishes (19± 1.12 centimeters) increased to 21.1± 1.12 cm in Tc and 22.46± 1.25 cm in To4 significantly (p<0.05). Among all treatments, FCR, SGR, WG, CF and SR were improved in To3 group. Also carcass protein increased in To4 (32.58±1.22%) on the contrary of Ti4 (22.43±1.51%) (p<0.05). As a general conclusion, dietary incorporation of organic selenium at 0.45 mg/kg showed satisfactory results in some growth parameters and was a useful supplement in salmonid fish diets

Analysis of gossip-based information propagation in wireless mesh networks

Analytical models exist for evaluating gossip-based information propagation. Up to now these models were developed only for fully connected networks. We provide analytical models for information propagation of a push-pull gossiping protocol in a wireless mesh network. The underlying topology is abstracted away by assuming that the wireless nodes are uniformly deployed. We compare our models with simulation results for different topologies

Effects of olive pomace on growth performance, digestibility, body composition and fatty acid profile in yearling Siberian sturgeon, Acipenser baerii (Brandt 1896)

Replacement of olive pomace (OP) with wheat flour in diet was studied in diet of yearling Siberian sturgeon (Acipenser baerii). Fish (165 ± 6.8 g) were randomly allocated to 15 fibreglass tanks (15 fish/tank, in triplicate). Fish were assigned to one of five dietary treatments at 19.1 ± 1.5°C for 8 weeks: control diet (crude protein and crude lipid at 514.6 and 188 g/kg, respectively) and four experimental diets with 20, 50, 75 and 100 g/kg OP to replace wheat flour in the experimental diets. No significant difference was observed in the final weight, feed conversion ratio, specific growth rate, hepatosomatic index, viscera‐somatic index and survival rate among the treatments (p > 0.05). No change was seen in digestibility of protein and lipid in diets containing 20 g/kg and 50 g/kg OP compared to control group, while these values decreased with increasing in OP above 50 g/kg. Digestibility of dry matter and gross energy among the treatments demonstrated no significant difference (p > 0.05). Polyunsaturated fatty acids, especially C22:6n3 (DHA), in the muscle of the fish fed 75 g/kg and 100 g/kg OP in diets were significantly higher than control group (p < 0.05). These data show that OP could be recommended as a substitute for wheat flour in diet of S. sturgeon but its utilization for other species warranted future works

Immuno-physiological and antioxidant responses of Siberian sturgeon (Acipenser baerii) fed with different levels of olive pomace

Nowadays, use of the natural plant derivatives as an immunostimulant in aquaculture is becoming more useful than antibiotics which are destructive to target animals, consumers, and the environment. The present study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of dietary substitution of wheat flour at 2, 5, 7.5, and 10% of olive pomace (OP2, OP5, OP7.5, and OP10) in some immune-physiological and antioxidant variables of yearling Siberian sturgeon (Acipenser baerii) weighing 165 ± 6.8 g at 19.1 ± 1.52 °C for 56 days. Fifteen fish per tank were randomly accommodated in triplicates per treatment and the control group was also included. No significant difference was seen in hematological indices including red blood cells (RBS) and immunocompetent cell population sizes among the treated groups (P > 0.05). Also, malondialdehyde (MDA) activity and superoxide dismutase (SOD) in serum remained unaffected in different treatments (P > 0.05). Total protein (TP), high-density lipoprotein (HDL), catalase (CT), and lysozyme were affected by dietary OP levels (P < 0.05), and the highest value was observed at the OP5 diet, but no influence was seen in serum IgM by OP. These data show that application of olive pomace as a partial substitute of wheat flour in the diet of Siberian sturgeon is feasible with stimulatory and antioxidant functions

Effect of date palm (Phoenix dactylifera)seed extract as a dietary supplementation on growth performance immunological haematological biochemical parameters of common carp

This study aimed to assess the effect of date palm (Phoenix dactylifera) seed (DPS) extract at 0.5%, 1%, 2% and 4% as a dietary supplement over 60 days, on the growth and immune-physiology of common carp (Cyprinus carpio) fingerlings. The weight gain in fish fed with 0.5% DPS was significantly greater than other treatments and fish fed a control diet with no DPS (p < 0.05). With increasing DPS dosage above 0.5%, weight gain and growth rate gradually declined. Feed conversion ratio in fish fed 0.5% DPS was lower than other treatments, but not significantly so, except for the highest DPS concentration (4%). With respect to immunophysiological variables, fish treated with 0.5% DPS leucocyte, neutrophil, lymphocyte and monocyte counts that were generally equivalent to fish on a control diet, but significantly lower than fish treated with greater concentrations of DPS (p < 0.05). Chemilumincene response and lysozyme activity, as well as levels of total protein and albumin, were higher in all treated groups than the control. The highest levels of iron and high density lipoprotein (HDL) were observed in fish fed with 0.5% DPS, while the levels of aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP), glucose, cholesterol, triglyceride, low density lipoprotein (LDH), thyrotropin, thyroxine and triiodothyronine were lower level in fish fed with 0.5% DPS than in all other treatments. In aquaculture practice, use of 0.5% DPS in commercial carp feed can improve the growth rate and condition of fish

Investigation of time-of-flight benefits in an LYSO-based PET/CT scanner: A Monte Carlo study using GATE

a b s t r a c t The advent of fast scintillators yielding great light yield and/or stopping power, along with advances in photomultiplier tubes and electronics, have rekindled interest in time-of-flight (TOF) PET. Because the potential performance improvements offered by TOF PET are substantial, efforts to improve PET timing should prove very fruitful. In this study, we performed Monte Carlo simulations to explore what gains in PET performance could be achieved if the coincidence resolving time (CRT) in the LYSO-based PET component of Discovery RX PET/CT scanner were improved. For this purpose, the GATE Monte Carlo package was utilized, providing the ability to model and characterize various physical phenomena in PET imaging. For the present investigation, count rate performance and signal to noise ratio (SNR) values in different activity concentrations were simulated for different coincidence timing windows of 4, 5.85, 6, 6.5, 8, 10 and 12 ns and with different CRTs of 100-900 ps FWHM involving 50 ps FWHM increments using the NEMA scatter phantom. Strong evidence supporting robustness of the simulations was found as observed in the good agreement between measured and simulated data for the cases of estimating axial sensitivity, axial and transaxial detection position, gamma non-collinearity angle distribution and positron annihilation distance. In the non-TOF context, the results show that the random event rate can be reduced by using narrower coincidence timing window widths, demonstrating considerable enhancements in the peak noise equivalent count rate (NECR) performance. The peak NECR had increased by $ 50% when utilizing the coincidence window width of 4 ns. At the same time, utilization of TOF information resulted in improved NECR and SNR with the dramatic reduction of random coincidences as a function of CRT. For example, with CRT of 500 ps FWHM, a factor of 2.3 reduction in random rates, factor of 1.5 increase in NECR and factor of 2.1 improvement in SNR is achievable. The results of this study show that in addition to the high sensitivity of Discovery RX PET/CT scanner, the implementation of TOF with proper CRT can efficiently improve the image quality in this scanner. Having successfully simulated the DRX scanner and utilization of TOF information, our research goal is to use the Monte Carlo simulation technique to arrive at powerful, accurate and feasible reconstruction algorithms

Corrigendum to “Effects of dietary chitosan and nano-chitosan loaded clinoptilolite on growth and immune responses of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)” [Fish Shellfish Immunol. 98 (2020) 210–217]

The authors regret the incorrect publication of affiliation ‘a’ in the original article. The first affiliation should read as "Department of Fisheries, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran". The authors apologise for any inconvenience caused